ENTERPRISE

You Can Own a Machine Gun (If You Pay a Bribe)

Did you know that in many areas of the country, it's perfectly legal
(after paying an unconstitutional federal tax) to own an automatic
weapon?

The National Firearms Act of 1934 states in part:

Rate. -- There shall be levied, collected, and paid on firearms
transferred a tax at the rate of $200 for each firearm transferred,
except, the transfer tax on any firearm classified as any other weapon
under section 5845(e) shall be at the rate of $5 for each such firearm
transferred.

By whom paid. -- The tax imposed by subsection (a) of this section
shall be paid by the transferor.

Payment. -- The tax imposed by subsection (a) of this section shall
be payable by the appropriate stamps prescribed for payment by the
Secretary.

Now, 1934's NFA is blatantly unconstitutional and the laughable $200
tax was passed when a Thompson submachine gun could be purchased for
$225. Who in their right mind would pay the then enormous tax of two
hundred dollars, almost doubling the price of the weapon? Even more so
for a short-barrelled shotgun worth ten 1934 dollars?

Rather than voting an outright ban on these so-called 'class three'
weapons, the courageous solons of 1934 were attempting a stealthy
outlawing based on economic suppression. One that has largely worked,
but they did include a provision to lock out the wealthy as well.

In addition to paying the unconstitutional tax, you have to beg
permission from the top cop of whatever locale you happen to live in.

A certificate of the local chief of police, sheriff of the county,
head of the State police, State or local district attorney or
prosecutor, or such other person whose certificate may in a particular
case be acceptable to the Director, shall be completed on each copy of
the Form 4 (Firearms). The certificate shall state that the certifying
official is satisfied that the fingerprints and photograph
accompanying the application are those of the applicant and that the
certifying official has no information indicating that the receipt or
possession of the firearm would place the transferee in violation of
local law or that the transferee will use the firearm for other than
lawful purposes.

Obviously, it's a rare local law enforcement official who would
willingly sign such a document, unless perhaps they were persuaded by
a large campaign contribution. It's an inherently corrupt process.

Not only does it invite corruption from local officials, it also
corrupts the industry as well. Quoting Federal Firearms Licensee D.
Kel Whelan:

"Often dealers find it in their interest to bribe or search out
friendly chiefs and sheriffs in order to provide signoffs for their
clients. Sometimes it works out the opposite way. In some areas, if
you don't buy the item from a store that made a significant
contribution to the sheriff's re-election fund, you don't get a
signoff."

Additionally, obtaining a CLEO (chief law enforcement officer) signoff
can be next to impossible in many areas where the elected officials
are anti-gun, despite the fact that the sale and ownership of
automatic weapons may be perfectly legal in that particularstate. NFA
enthusiasts are often confounded by local officials conspiring amongst
themselves to not sign these forms. Also, BATF agents routinely advise
local officials against signing.

Again quoting Whelan:

"We waste our anger on locals who have no business viewing our private
tax documents in the first place, yet "required" to by an illegal BATF
form. We waste time and money issuing writs of mandamus to local
officials, attempting to get them to "do their job", when it clearly
isn't."

Whelan's attempting to address the situation.

As chairman of the 1934 Group, Whelan has brought suit in federal
court charging that the NFA requirement for signoff has serious 5th,
4th and 10th Amendment flaws, which negatively impact our ability to
exercise our 2nd Amendment rights.

Our courts haven't seriously addressed the 2nd amendment for decades,
but recently, they have been willing to examine it piecemeal. The
recent "Emerson" decision had some good news for gun owners and
portions of the Brady Act were struck down on the basis of legal
arguments similar to lhose being made by the 1934 Group.

The 1934 National Firearms Act needs to be trashed in its entirety,
but in the meantime, the 1934 Group has a worthy goal in its sights.

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